Interlocking Climbing Chock

ABSTRACT

An Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  is disclosed having at least one pair of opposing sides with complementary interlocking projections and recesses. Two instances of this Interlocking Climbing Chock  10  may be interlocked to form a larger interlocked climbing chock. The flexibility, provided by the subject invention, to form various sizes of climbing chocks while on a climb in order to meet the needs of that particular climb, offers the climber advantages both in safety and economy.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to climbing aids, and specifically to a climbing chock capable of being interlocked with another such climbing chock to form a larger climbing chock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A great variety of climbing chocks are known. Possibly the most basic form of climbing chock is a simple wedge which is used, in a variety of sizes, to provide a support point for a climber. Earlier wedge shaped climbing chocks had flat sides. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607 to Vallance, an improved wedge shape chock is illustrated comprising opposing concave and convex surfaces.

Another popular style of climbing chock is the hexagonal chock, an example of which can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,485 to Chouinard et al. This climbing chock features a number of flat sides with provisions for a sling to be passed through the center of the climbing chock.

Other examples illustrating the various forms of climbing chocks include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,241 to Burkey, and 4,083,521 to Greiner, II.

Each of the above mentioned climbing chocks has limitations relating to the size of a rock crack or crevice into which it may fit effectively. Other, more complex climbing chocks have been invented to expand the range of crack or crevice sizes into which a climbing chock may fit and also to increase the gripping force of these climbing chocks. These more complex chocks usually have many parts, including some form of spring and cam, and are much more expensive to manufacture than the simpler chocks with no moving parts. Examples of these complex climbing chocks include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,781,346 to Banner et al., and 4,834,327 to Byrne.

Many climbers prefer the simpler forms of climbing chocks, containing no moving parts. Typically these climbing chocks are relatively inexpensive and highly effective. When using these chocks, a climber will often take a complete set of chocks ranging in size from the smallest chock capable of supporting the climber's weight to one that is as large as the largest anticipated crack on the climbing route. The smart climber often takes an additional chock or two for each of the most common crack sizes expected to be encountered. Unfortunately, despite a climber's best efforts in planning before the start of a climb, many climbers find themselves on a climbing route having already exhausted the supply of a particular size of chock needed for the safest chock placement at their current position and with an excessive number of chocks of unneeded sizes. Not only does this mean that the climber hauls excess weight, it compromises the safety of the climber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The climbing chock of the invention is simple in form and has no moving parts. It is generally wedge shaped and has one or more pairs of opposing surfaces with complementary projections and recesses. As such, the climbing chock of the present invention can be interlocked with another climbing chock, of similar shape but not required to be of the same size, to form a third larger climbing chock composed of two interlocked climbing chocks.

It is an object of the invention to provide a climbing chock which offers the climber greater safety by increasing the likelihood that the set of such chocks that a climber takes on a climb will be sufficient to safely meet the needs of the climb.

Another object of the invention is to provide a climbing chock which allows a climber the opportunity to decrease the weight of gear which the climber must haul on a climb, without compromising the sufficiency of the gear to provide safety. This, in itself, increases the safety of the climb by minimizing the fatigue of the climber.

Another object is to provide a less expensive means for a climber to purchase a complement of climbing chocks sufficient to meet his or her climbing needs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A through 1C illustrate different views of one embodiment of the subject invention with a single flexible line extending from its front face.

FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, but attached to a flexible line in the form of a loop.

FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment properly positioned in a crevice of a rock.

FIG. 4 shows two instances of the second embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly positioned in a crevice of a rock.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show top and bottom perspective views of a third embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses.

FIG. 6 shows two instances of the third embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.

FIG. 7 shows two instances of the third embodiment, of different sizes, which can be interlocked with each other to form a larger climbing chock.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show top and bottom perspective views of a fourth embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses, as well as showing a hollow passage through the device for weight reduction.

FIG. 9 shows two instances of the fourth embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show top and bottom perspective views of a fifth embodiment, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses.

FIG. 11 shows two instances of the fifth embodiment interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.

FIGS. 12A and 12B show views of the fifth embodiment particularly illustrating two surfaces that come into contact to form a mechanical stop when the climbing chocks are interlocked.

FIGS. 13A through 15B show views of three embodiments, embodiments six through eight, similar to the fifth embodiment, but different either with respect to the locations of the projections and recesses or with respect to the locations of the surfaces that come into contact to form a mechanical stop.

FIGS. 16A through 16C illustrate top, bottom, and side perspective views of a ninth embodiment, demonstrating entirely flat surfaces and another design of interlocking projections and recesses in which the projections and recesses become narrower from front to back.

FIGS. 17A through 17C illustrate top, bottom, and side perspective views of a tenth embodiment, demonstrating hexagonal front and back faces, projections and recesses which become wider from front to back, the presence of two pairs of opposing surfaces with interlocking projections and recesses, and front and back faces that are not parallel.

FIGS. 18A through 18C illustrate three views of an eleventh embodiment demonstrating that the polygonal front and back faces do not have to be regular polygons, and that the polygonal front and back faces can each have an odd number of sides providing that two surfaces having recesses and projections are substantially opposing each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1A through 1C, an Interlocking Climbing Chock 10 of the invention is depicted of a shape generally following that posed by Vallance in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607. This InterlockingClimbing Chock 10 has a Front Face 12 directly across from a Back Face 14. Both the Top Convex Surface 16 and Bottom Concave Surface 18 have multiple projections and recesses in a standard tongue and groove pattern. The recesses of the Bottom Concave Surface 18 are open at the Back Face 14, but do not pass through the Front Face 12 thus providing a Mechanical Stop Surface 20. A single Flexible Line 22 is attached to the body of the climbing chock and extends forward from the Front Face 12. The end of the Flexible Line 22 has a Loop 24 to which a karabiner, not shown, may be attached.

In use, the climbing chock of the invention can be used exactly as another chock, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,607 to Vallance, would be used. The climber simply positions the chock into a rock crevice such that the wedge shape of the chock serves to hold it in place, and clips the Loop 24 of the Flexible Line 22 to his/her climbing rope. In order to fit a larger rock crevice, the climber may interlock two instances of the climbing chock to form a larger interlocked climbing chock. For this Interlocking Climbing Chock 10, in order to interlock two instances thereof, the climber positions the Front Face 12 of one instance behind the Back Face 14 of a second instance such that the projections and recesses of the Top Convex Surface 16 of the first instance line up with the complementary recesses and projections of the Bottom Concave Surface 18 of the second instance. The climber then moves the first instance forward inserting the projections of the Top Convex Surface 16 of the first instance into the recesses of the Bottom Concave Surface 18 of the second instance, until the end of the projections of the Top Convex Surface 16 of the first instance meet the Mechanical Stop Surface 20 of the second instance. After positioning the resulting interlocked climbing chock in a crevice, the climber must be careful to clip his/her rope into that instance which is held in place behind the Mechanical Stop Surface, in this case that being the first instance. Several examples of interlocked climbing chocks are shown in subsequent figures.

FIG. 2 presents a Second Embodiment Climbing Chock 26 which is otherwise similar to the Interlocking Climbing Chock 10 of FIG. 1, excepting that a Looped Flexible Line 28 replaces the Flexible Line 22 of the Interlocking Climbing Chock 10. Two Flexible Line Passages 30 exist within the body of the climbing chock providing passage of the Looped Flexible Line.

FIG. 3 shows the Second Embodiment Climbing Chock 26 properly positioned in a crevice of a rock surface. The end of the Looped Flexible Line 28 is not shown.

FIG. 4 shows two instances of the Second Embodiment Climbing Chock 26 interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The Looped Flexible Line 28 into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the one to the left in this figure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B present a Third Embodiment Climbing Chock 32 containing one Third Embodiment Projection 34 on a Third Embodiment Convex Top Surface 36 and one Third Embodiment Recess 38 on a Third Embodiment Concave Bottom Surface 40.

FIG. 6 presents two instances of the Third Embodiment Climbing Chock 32 interlocked to form a larger climbing chock. Because of the taper of both the Third Embodiment Projection 34 and Third Embodiment Recess 38, a mechanical stop, preventing further relative movement, is established when the side walls of the Third Embodiment Projection 34 meet the side walls of the Third Embodiment Recess 38. The proper flexible line into which the climber should clip is the lower of the two in this figure.

FIG. 7 presents two climbing chocks, 32A and 32B, of the third embodiment type. These two climbing chocks are of different sizes but can be interlocked to form a larger climbing chock.

FIGS. 8A and 8B present a Fourth Embodiment Climbing Chock 42 illustrating yet another example of interlocking projection and recess. This embodiment also has an Opening 44 which passes through the body of the device, for weight reduction.

FIG. 9 shows two instances of the Fourth Embodiment Climbing Chock 42 interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The flexible line into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the lower one in this figure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show top and bottom perspective views of a Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock 46, illustrating another design of interlocking projections and recesses. The Fifth Embodiment Projections 48 and Fifth Embodiment Recesses 50 are both primarily cylindrical in shape.

FIG. 11 shows two instances of the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock 46 interlocked to form a larger climbing chock, and properly place in a crevice of a rock surface. The flexible line into which the climber should clip his/her rope is the lower one in this figure.

FIGS. 12A through 15B show the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock 46 and three other embodiments demonstrating minor variations to the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock. For visual clarity, the flexible lines are not shown. Collectively the four embodiments shown in these figures demonstrate differences in the relative placement of the complementary recesses and projections as well as differences in the locations of surfaces which provide a mechanical stop, so as to prevent interlocked climbing chocks from slipping free from each other.

FIGS. 12A and 12B present two views of the Fifth Embodiment Climbing Chock 46. The projections are along the top surface and the recesses are along the bottom surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Fifth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 52 and the Fifth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 54. Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Fifth Embodiment Front Face 56 of one instance behind the Fifth Embodiment Back Face 58 of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Fifth Embodiment Projections 48 are captured within the Fifth Embodiment Recesses 50 of the second instance until the Fifth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 54 of the first instance contacts the Fifth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 52 of the second instance.

FIGS. 13A and 13B present two views of a Sixth Embodiment Climbing Chock 60. The Sixth Embodiment Projections 62 are along the top surface and the Sixth Embodiment Recesses 64 are along the bottom surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Sixth Embodiment Back Face 66 and the Sixth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 68. Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Sixth Embodiment Front Face 70 of one instance behind the Sixth Embodiment Back Face 66 of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Sixth Embodiment Projections 62 are captured within the Sixth Embodiment Recesses 64 of the second instance until the Sixth Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 68 of the first instance contacts the Sixth Embodiment Back Face 66 of the second instance.

FIGS. 14A and 14B present two views of a Seventh Embodiment Climbing Chock 72. The Seventh Embodiment Projections 74 are along the bottom surface and the Seventh Embodiment Recesses 76 are along the top surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Seventh Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 78 and the Seventh Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 80 located at the forward ends of the Seventh Embodiment Projections 74. Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Seventh Embodiment Front Face 82 of one instance behind the Seventh Embodiment Back Face 84 of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Seventh Embodiment Projections 74 are captured within the Seventh Embodiment Recesses 76 of the second instance until the Seventh Embodiment Rear Stop Surface 80 of the first instance contacts the Seventh Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 78 of the second instance.

FIGS. 15A and 15B present two views of an Eighth Embodiment Climbing Chock 86. The Eighth Embodiment Projections 88 are along the bottom surface and the Eighth Embodiment Recesses 90 are along the top surface. The two surfaces forming the mechanical stop are the Eighth Embodiment Front Face 92 and the Eighth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 94. Two instances of this embodiment are interlocked by placing the Eighth Embodiment Front Face 92 of one instance behind the Eighth Embodiment Back Face 96 of a second instance, then moving the first instance forward such that its Eighth Embodiment Recesses 90 envelop the Eighth Embodiment Projections 88 of the second instance until the Eighth Embodiment Front Face 92 of the first instance contacts the Eighth Embodiment Forward Stop Surface 94 of the second instance.

FIGS. 16A through 16C present a Ninth Embodiment Climbing Chock 98 in which the Ninth Embodiment Projection 100 and Ninth Embodiment Recess 102 taper in the direction from Ninth Embodiment Front Face 104 to the Ninth Embodiment Back Face 106. For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. All sides of this embodiment are flat. Just as was the case with the Third Embodiment Climbing Chock 32, because of the taper of both the Ninth Embodiment Projection 100 and Ninth Embodiment Recess 102, a mechanical stop, preventing further relative movement, is established when the side walls of the Ninth Embodiment Projection 100 meet the side walls of the Ninth Embodiment Recess 102.

FIGS. 17A through 17C present a Tenth Embodiment Climbing Chock 108 with hexagonal front and back faces. For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. This embodiment has two pairs of opposing sides having complementary interlocking projections and recesses. The complementary recesses and projections all taper from back to front. This embodiment also illustrates that the front and back faces need not be parallel, the Tenth Embodiment Front Face 110 being in a plane which is not parallel to the plane of the Tenth Embodiment Back Face 112.

FIGS. 18A through 18C present an Eleventh Embodiment Climbing Chock 114 demonstrating that the polygonal front and back faces are not required to be regular polygons. For visual clarity, the flexible line is not shown. This embodiment also demonstrates front and back faces of the subject invention need not have an even number of sides so long as two side surfaces, with complementary projections and recesses, are opposing each other. The Eleventh Embodiment Front Face 116 and Eleventh Embodiment Back Face 118 are both irregular pentagons.

Although eleven embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that further variations and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. 

1.-13. (canceled)
 14. An interlocking climbing chock capable of stacking with one or more similar climbing chocks to form a larger climbing chock; said interlocking climbing chock comprising a polygonal front face and a polygonal back face; said front face and said back face having the same number of sides; a number of side surfaces equal to the number of sides of either said front face or said back face; each side surface extending from a side edge of said back face to a corresponding side edge of said front face; at least one pair of two opposing side edges of said front face being of smaller length than the corresponding opposing side edges of said back face, yielding two opposing surfaces generally forming a wedge; complementary shaped interlocking projections and recesses, on the two opposing wedge surfaces, extending between said back face and said front face wherein said projections of one wedge surface are positioned directly across from said recesses of its opposing wedge surface; said projections being wider at a point near their termination than at a point near the surface from which they project; said recesses being wider at a point near their termination than at a point near the surface from which they recede; a mechanical stop means; said mechanical stop means preventing said interlocking climbing chock from slipping free from a similar climbing chock when said interlocking climbing chock and said similar climbing chock have been stacked and interlocked to form a larger climbing chock; and a flexible line with a closed loop; said closed loop positioned at one end of said flexible line; the other end of said flexible line being attached to said front face.
 15. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein said mechanical stop means comprises a surface terminating said recesses, on one of said two opposing wedge surfaces, toward said front face.
 16. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein said mechanical stop means comprises a forward facing surface, extending outward from the wedge surface from which extend said projections, and positioned toward said back face.
 17. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein the widths of at least one of said projections and its complementary recess are narrower at the ends nearest said front face than at the ends nearest said back face; the general taper of both recess and projection thus causing said mechanical stop means to be comprised of the walls of said recess and its complementary projection.
 18. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein said mechanical stop means comprises a surface terminating said recesses, on one of said two opposing wedge surfaces, toward said back face.
 19. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein said mechanical stop means comprises a rear facing surface, extending outward from the wedge surface from which extend said projections, and positioned toward said front face.
 20. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein the widths of at least one of said projections and its complementary recess are narrower at the ends nearest said back face than at the ends nearest said front face; the general taper of both recess and projection thus causing said mechanical stop to be comprised of the walls of said recess and its complimentary projection.
 21. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein all side surfaces are generally flat.
 22. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 wherein said two opposing wedge surfaces are curved, one such wedge surface being concave and the other such wedge surface being convex but of like curvature to the concave wedge surface.
 23. The interlocking climbing chock of claim 14 further comprising one or more openings which pass entirely through said interlocking climbing chock; said openings positioned and dimensioned so as to provide weight reduction without compromising the effectiveness and strength of said interlocking climbing chock. 